The “Ain’t So’s” About Cholesterol

Why are people so misinformed about cholesterol when so much has been published about it? After all, cholesterol has become a household name. It’s hard to go to a social gathering without someone mentioning this fatty substance and their own cholesterol level. But as one wise sage remarked, “It’s not the things you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s the things you know for sure that ain’t so”. So what ain’t so about cholesterol?

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It ain’t so, for instance, that the only cause of coronary artery disease is cholesterol. Life is not that simple, and it’s totally unrealistic to believe that one risk factor sends so many people to the great beyond. Rather, Matthew’s Law is the culprit. It states that “it’s the sum total of several factors such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, lack of exercise, smoking, advancing age and inadequate fiber in the diet that ends so many lives.” It ain’t so that cholesterol is the devil it’s made out to be. How many know that cholesterol is a necessary part of every cell in the body? Cholesterol is required for the absorption of fats and digestive juices, and there would be no loving without cholesterol as it is needed to produce sex hormones! We would all die without cholesterol. And how many are aware that some studies show cholesterol-lowering drugs (CLDs) increase the risk of violent death, suicide, short term memory loss and some cancers. It ain’t so that cholesterol numbers determine whether or not you have a heart attack. Cholesterol levels of men living in Edinburgh, Scotland, and Stockholm, Sweden, are identical. But the coronary death rate is 3X greater in Scots. Maybe they don’t eat as many veggies. Or drink too much of their own Scotch! Similarly, ethnic Japanese living in Japan and California have comparable blood cholesterol levels, but those in California have more coronary disease. Is this because of a change in diet or stress on their highways? No one really knows the answer to these questions. It ain’t so that low levels of blood cholesterol prevent atherosclerosis and heart attack. One of the world’s most famous heart surgeons, a Texan, reported years ago that 30 percent of patients who had a coronary bypass operation had normal blood cholesterol levels. It ain’t so that the only way our bodies obtain cholesterol is by the food we eat. Most patients are amazed to hear the liver produces 80 to 90 percent of the cholesterol in our bodies. You can’t change the spots on a leopard , and it’s hard to change the genetically controlled metabolism of the liver. Dietary changes help, but it requires a drastic change in food consumption to significantly reduce blood cholesterol. It ain’t so that the more cholesterol we eat the more cholesterol is in the blood. The liver’s production of cholesterol is controlled much like the thermostat controls the temperature of our homes. Studies show that the more cholesterol consumed, the less the liver produces. Conversely, if the diet is low in cholesterol, the reverse is true, and the liver manufactures more cholesterol. Here’s a big “Ain’t so.” It’s not simply medical science that convinces people to take cholesterol lowering and other drugs. I often write this column on Lake Canandaigua in upper state New York, so I keep my eye on U.S health matters. It was recently reported by Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield that in 2007, in upper state N.Y alone, $241,530,000 was spent on just one cholesterol drug, Lipitor! Another $103,580,000 was spent on Prevacid to ease stomach problems, and $74,360,000 on Effexor for depression. The point is, “Thars money in them thar drugs.” I find it hard to believe that in one small corner of the U.S. so many people are suffering from high cholesterol levels, stomach and nervous problems to name just a few. We have more than a sick economy these days. We have a population that’s been programmed to illness. A population that now believes that the road to health is paved with pills, pills and more pills. And it means we have a terribly ill society that keeps pharmaceutical companies flourishing.